On Growth
1) Underserved areas: no water, sewer, trash, or signals Too many Citrus County neighborhoods still don’t have basic services—no municipal water, no sewer, no trash pickup, and in some cases not even proper traffic control. I believe we must deliver basic services first before we approve more speculative growth. As someone who has operated small, regulated businesses in salons, real estate, and marine work, I’ve lived with permitting delays, service gaps, and inconsistent government systems. I know what it means to build systems from scratch, budget carefully, and phase improvements, and I will bring that same discipline to prioritizing and phasing county capital projects instead of scattering money on one‑off “show” projects. 2) Septic‑to‑sewer and springs protection I support septic‑to‑sewer conversions where the science shows they protect our springs and waterways—but they must be grant‑supported, transparent, and financially fair. I will not support a model that drops huge surprise bills on seniors and working families and calls it “environmental progress.” I’ve already spent time digging into the technical details, state programs, and the real‑world financial shock these projects can cause. My strength is taking technical material and translating it into plain language so people understand what’s happening, what it costs, and what help is available. 3) Storm‑damaged and outdated sewer systems; using new funding In recent years, storms have exposed how fragile some of our sewer and drainage systems are. Now that more state and grant dollars are becoming available, I will fight to make sure that money first fixes real failures and environmental hot spots—not just funds pretty maps and ribbon‑cuttings. As a business owner, I’m used to chasing grants and programs and matching them to real needs, not wish lists. I think in terms of return on investment: spend once on resilient infrastructure instead of patching the same failing systems over and over. 4) Suncoast Parkway 2 and interchange growth The Suncoast Parkway is here. The real question now is whether we let it steamroll rural communities or require growth around it to match our real capacity for roads, water, sewer, and springs protection. My maritime and logistics background trained me to think in terms of corridors, chokepoints, and safety. I understand how one bad decision at an interchange can cascade through an entire system. I’m used to risk management, so I will ask hard questions about flooding, groundwater, and traffic at each interchange before voting on rezonings or higher densities. 5) Fire/EMS, response times, and new stations Public safety is not a talking point to me; it’s about maps, response times, and budgets. I believe we should add fire stations and EMS units where response times are worst, not where it is politically convenient. As a former maritime officer, I’ve lived with emergency drills, response planning, and life‑safety decisions under pressure. I will evaluate new stations based on whether they truly close gaps in coverage and save minutes when minutes mean lives. 6) Insurance, drainage, and hardened infrastructure I know from my own businesses and properties that high insurance costs are crushing families and owners. While state law drives much of insurance policy, local decisions about drainage, building standards, and where we allow dense development either reduce risk—or bake higher premiums into our future. I evaluate physical risk every time I protect an asset or plan a project. On the County Commission, I will push for infrastructure and land‑use decisions that reduce long‑term risk, so we’re not paying for today’s shortcuts through tomorrow’s insurance bills. 7) “Service‑First Citrus” capital priorities Every county budget should start with one simple question: which projects most directly improve safety, water, sewer, and roads for the people who already live here? Those projects go first. Everything else waits its turn. In my businesses, I’ve had to make tough choices—payroll before nice‑to‑haves, critical equipment before cosmetic upgrades. I read financial statements and debt documents and understand what sustainable investment looks like. As your commissioner, I will use that same discipline to keep our borrowing and spending tied to essentials, not vanity projects.
